Most recent 40 articles: Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming
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Swiss Women Lead the Way in Historic Climate Justice Victory - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Apr 10) |
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Apr 10 · In a pivotal week for environmental justice, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, delivered rulings on three climate cases. A landmark ruling in the Swiss Women’s case criticized governments for not acting in line with science and unequivocally stated that inadequate government action on climate change constitutes a violation of human rights. The other two cases were dismissed due to procedural issues, not due to the merits of the cases. The ECHR rejects as inadmissible approximately 90 percent of all cases brought before it.
Below, I detail some of the key aspects of each case and outline how the courts ruled. Looking at each of these rulings, it’s ... Read more ...
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As its Lone Climate Scientist Board Member Departs, ExxonMobil Still Heads in the Wrong Direction - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Apr 4) |
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Apr 4 · As ExxonMobil prepares for its annual general meeting (AGM) this spring, the corporation is facing calls to drop an unprecedented lawsuit against shareholders who are asking for deeper global warming emissions reductions. There has been comparatively less attention to the decision by climate scientist Dr. Susan Avery not to seek re-election to the ExxonMobil board of directors. Yet this shift in corporate leadership is significant, marking the end of a chapter in ExxonMobil’s long and ongoing history of climate deception and disinformation.
Here’s a primer on why a climate scientist was on ExxonMobil’s board, what Dr. Avery accomplished during her tenure, and how ... Read more ...
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The Fossil Fuel Industry Continues Producing Heat-Trapping Emissions that Drive Climate Change - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Apr 3) |
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Apr 3 · A new dataset released by InfluenceMap provides information on heat-trapping emissions traced to the 122 largest investor and state-owned fossil fuel companies in the world. Fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change and the terrifying effects of it that we see happening across the world. That makes this dataset a powerful tool for understanding how each of these entity’s heat-trapping emissions have contributed to climate change.
I have been working with this new InfluenceMap dataset in my own research, and here I’ll share how I’m using it and offer a look at heat-trapping emissions from five major investor-owned fossil fuel companies: ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, ... Read more ...
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What’s the Role of the Land Carbon Sink in Achieving US Climate Goals? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Apr 2) |
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Apr 2 · The longevity of naturally occurring carbon sinks, like those in Earth’s forests, is a key part of all modeled and projected pathways to net-zero. Without the considerable carbon absorption capacity of our lands (and oceans), we’d currently have much more CO2 in the atmosphere and an accelerated timeline of warming.
But the complexities of the interactions between the land and atmosphere, especially in a rapidly changing climate, are challenging to model, leading to uncertainty around the magnitude and persistence of this critical carbon sink. I dug into this complexity with my energy colleagues in the context of their recent analysis of pathways for how the US can meet its ... Read more ...
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Four Reasons You Should Care about California Snow - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Apr 1) |
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Apr 1 · Last week, I visited Yosemite National Park and walked along a gorgeous trail surrounded by snow-blanketed sequoia trees. Beyond the horizon of pine trees to the south lies the Sierra National Forest, and beyond the rocky horizon to the north lies the Stanislaus National Forest. Further beyond these national forests lies the rest of the expansive Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, spanning 400 miles.
Tomorrow, April 2nd, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will perform the last open-to-the-media snow survey of the year. These seasonal snow surveys offer a health check-up for our water system. If you’re a precipitation nerd, you can follow the livestream here.
The ... Read more ...
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Growing Shade Equity, One Tree at a Time - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Mar 11) |
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Mar 11 · Beneath the reputation of Los Angeles as a land of cars, palms, and sunshine lies a reality of stark inequalities - including access to trees and shade. Nearly 20% of L.A.’s urban forest is concentrated where only 1% of the city’s population lives, endangering lower-income communities and people of color with hotter-feeling summers and poor environmental quality. In the US and elsewhere, heat is the biggest weather-related killer, and people who live with less shade are two to three times more likely to suffer from heat-related illness and death.
From one neighborhood to the next, heat is not experienced evenly. That’s because every neighborhood is made up of a unique ... Read more ...
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Wildfire Threat to Texas Nuclear Weapons Facility Highlights Intersecting Risks - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Mar 7) |
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Mar 7 · Last week, Texas’s Windy Deuce Fire, one of several large fires that broke out in the state’s panhandle region, passed within a few miles of a nuclear weapons facility and necessitated an emergency evacuation of nonessential employees. The immediate threat of wildfire to the Pantex nuclear facility, at which nuclear weapons are assembled and disassembled, has passed for now. But is it normal for a wildfire to be burning in Texas in February? What role is climate change playing? And with wildfires growing more severe and burning larger areas, how many other nuclear facilities are at risk?
As climate change increases the frequency or intensity of extreme events such as ... Read more ...
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Banks Continue to Prop Up the Fossil Fuel Industry - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Feb 5) |
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Feb 5 · The hypocrisy of the world’s biggest banks on climate change keeps mounting. Last month, the British-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) reported that London-based HSBC, one of the world’s top-10 biggest banks, has helped raise $47 billion for the fossil fuel industry since its 2022 announcement that it would not finance new gas and oil infrastructure.
Some of HSBC’s dealings were on behalf of Saudi Aramco, the world’s second-ranked company in Fortune’s Global 500 and often dubbed the world’s biggest polluter for being the largest corporate emitter of greenhouse gases. In response to the report, the bank told TBIJ that its investments remain “science-based,” under ... Read more ...
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IPCC Must Include More Global South Scientists, Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge Holders - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Jan 29) |
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Jan 29 · The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met in Istanbul, Türkiye, in January 2024 to try to agree on the core scientific products it will produce in its 7th assessment cycle (AR7). I was there representing the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) along with my colleague Dr. Delta Merner, who wrote about the main decisions taken at the meeting. My goal was to advocate for increased consideration of cultural heritage, including Indigenous and traditional knowledge, in IPCC’s work.
The Istanbul meeting saw a prolonged, and ultimately unresolved debate about whether the IPCC’s main reports could, or should, be produced in time to help inform the United Nations ... Read more ...
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The IPCC and the Need for Actionable Science - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Jan 22) |
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Jan 22 · The 60th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded on Friday, culminating in a marathon 26-hour final session that underscored the urgency and complexity of global climate discussions. As I outlined in my day-one blog, the opening session of the 7th assessment of the IPCC (AR7) last week in Istanbul aimed to address four key questions, but many of these were deferred to the next session as delegates engaged in rigorous debate about what reports they should produce and more importantly, when they would be completed. The IPCC always produces scientific reports, but the structure, topics, and timelines of these reports are not set in stone and were the ... Read more ...
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Why the IPCC 7th Assessment Matters - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Jan 16) |
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Jan 16 · I’m currently in Istanbul, Türkiye, with my colleague Adam Markham, for the opening session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) seventh assessment cycle. While the global understanding of climate change is well-established, the world’s response remains sluggish. It’s essential that as policies and public awareness evolve, the science keeps pace, offering the latest policy-relevant insights to effectively combat climate change.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is an official observer organization of the IPCC, and we traveled here because decisions are being made about the structure, topics, and processes that will guide the 7th assessment ... Read more ...
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Navigating Net Zero Via the Law - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Jan 10) |
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Jan 10 · This blog was coauthored by Joana Setzer and Laura Peterson.
Fresh off the heels of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the global climate conversation is buzzing with a mix of skepticism and cautious optimism. Last year’s UN climate talks, while criticized for certain shortcomings, brought into sharp focus the need for robust legal frameworks to transition from fossil fuels. The UAE Consensus, while a leap forward, left many wondering: How do nations bridge the lofty ambitions of international agreements with real-world action?
This was the question that prompted a study we wrote with eight other scholars from the Climate ... Read more ...
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COP28 took steps toward safeguarding cultural heritage from climate change - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Jan 3) |
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Jan 3 · The outcomes of the latest international climate negotiations at COP28 in Dubai in December, while taking some important steps forward, fell far short of what is needed to avert climate catastrophe. Despite formally recognizing for the first time that a transition from fossil fuel use is necessary, nations failed to agree to the fast, fair, and funded phase-out that scientists are calling for. One big positive from COP28 was the creation of a Loss and Damage fund to address climate impacts in the Global South. However, most developed nations including the U.S. made only minimal, almost derisory, financial commitments to it. And one of the few other glimmers of hope that emerged from ... Read more ...
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What Did the UN Climate Talks at COP28 Achieve and What’s Next? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Dec 21) |
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Dec 21 · This year’s annual UN climate talks, COP28, concluded in Dubai earlier this month with nations agreeing to the UAE Consensus.
After 30 long years, we finally have a global agreement that addresses a transition away from fossil fuels, the primary driver of human-caused climate change. It falls short of the fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phaseout that scientists, businesses, health experts, and climate activists have called for, but nevertheless is an important step forward.
Now that we’re past the initial headlines, it’s worth taking stock of what was really accomplished, where the outcomes fell short, and what’s next for global climate policy.
The core outcomes ... Read more ...
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The Year in Corporate Disclosure and Disinformation 2023 - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Dec 14) |
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Dec 14 · If 2022 was the year that corporate climate-related financial disclosure jumped out of the boardroom into the headlines, then 2023 may be the year when the global tide quietly turned in its favor. Louder calls to accelerate the energy transition, advances in climate litigation, and shareholder activism pushed many governments and financial institutions around the world to acknowledge the need for transparency regarding climate-related financial risk. Yet the US government stubbornly remained behind the curve thanks to obstruction and disinformation by a few concentrated interests. Here’s a roundup of the year’s high and low points in this ever-evolving realm.
Many major ... Read more ...
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The Intergenerational Fight for Climate Justice at COP 28 - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Dec 10) |
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Dec 10 · On the day before the 28th United Nations annual climate talks began, I walked into a room with over a hundred people representing almost two thousand civil society organizations. I sat next to a guy who immediately introduced himself to me - he was my age and it was his first COP, too. When prompted by our facilitator, roughly a third of the people in the room raised their hands that it was their first COP. Another third or so have been coming to COP since its first convening in Berlin in 1995.
The youngest member of the Climate Action Network International (CANI) is still in high school, and the oldest is 85. Teenagers and octogenarians sat side by side in a strategy ... Read more ...
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Progress Possible at COP 28 Despite Fossil Fuel Industry Deception - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Dec 10) |
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Dec 10 · Last week, I joined my colleagues at COP28 in Dubai, as negotiators and civil society push for a fossil fuel phaseout to meet climate goals.
This year there has been a lot of attention on the more than 2,400 oil and gas lobbyists at the climate meetings. The industry is pushing a narrative that misleadingly calls out emissions, not fossil fuels as the problem. My colleague Rachel Cleetus has clearly laid out the imperative for fossil fuel phaseout.
I’m happy to report that at this moment, it seems that the nations of the world may stand up for people over fossil fuel industry interests.
No official text has been decided, but more than 100 of the 195 countries ... Read more ...
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Fossil Fuel Disinformation Threats Aim to Hinder Meaningful Action at COP28 - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Dec 9) |
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Dec 9 · While there are thousands of people here in Dubai at COP28 fighting for genuine change, the climate summit is facing a barrage of disinformation.
Combatting climate change has never been more urgent, and COP28 is poised to advance critical global action. Yet, driven by vested interests in the fossil fuel industry, misleading narratives aim to distort and hinder meaningful climate commitments. It’s important that we understand these disinformation tactics to eliminate their power.
Here I highlight three areas of disinformation outlined in a pre-COP28 report released by Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD), revealing the lies that could undermine global ... Read more ...
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Climate Litigation: Reflection and Anticipation for 2024 - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Dec 4) |
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Dec 4 · Last year, I made three predictions for what would happen in climate litigation in 2023. Two of my predictions hit the mark, while the other one revealed the complexity of the legal battles waged against climate injustice. Below I reflect on my predictions before venturing into the uncharted territory of 2024.
US cases heard on merits: A mixed bag. My prediction that cases would finally be heard on their merits in the United States encountered a mixed reality. While major oil companies did run out of legal stalling tactics when state courts denied their appeals to switch jurisdiction to federal courts, the pace of progress remained sluggish. There was a glimmer of hope in ... Read more ...
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Focusing on Science, Justice, and Systemic Solutions at COP28 - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 30) |
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Nov 30 · The twenty-eighth annual United Nations climate summit - or COP28 - has begun here in Dubai, UAE, where I’m joining the UCS delegation for another round of international discussions on how we can turn the global temperature down as fast as possible on our rapidly heating planet. Eight years after the 2015 COP that produced the Paris Agreement, in which the world’s nations agreed to stick to a strict schedule to cut global warming emissions, I’m balancing my hope that humanity can come together to commit to even more ambitious goals.
The reality is that we have a very heavy lift ahead of us if we are going to affect the transformative change needed to secure a livable future. ... Read more ...
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2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season - a Wrap (Maybe) - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 29) |
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Nov 29 · “In the eye of a hurricaneThere is quietFor just a momentA yellow sky
When I was seventeen a hurricaneDestroyed my townI didn’t drownI couldn’t seem to die”
The above lyrics written by Lin-Manuel Miranda from the musical Hamilton, bring out feelings - and facts - about hurricanes. Yes, Alexander Hamilton did, in fact, survive a hurricane that destroyed his native St. Croix, according to a letter written to his father.
Back in 1772, when that hurricane hit, the science of hurricane forecasting and tracking was not developed. A hurricane was very much a surprise. Today, hurricanes are not surprises anymore, although some of their features may still ... Read more ...
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Federal Grants: Duct Tape or Catalyst for Environmental and Climate Justice? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 28) |
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Nov 28 · During my more than two decades of federal service, I learned many things about the function of government. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), where I spent the most time, is charged with protecting public health and the environment, and it uses two primary levers
For example, EPA rules limiting ozone pollution or carbon from power plants move the first lever, while the combined $1.25 billion funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are clear examples of the latter. I gained experience in both arenas and know that both are incredibly important to achieve our rapidly approaching climate goals during this defining ... Read more ...
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Cultural Heritage is a Human Right. Climate Change is Fast Eroding It. - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 27) |
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Nov 27 · A human rights-based approach to cultural heritage protection is an essential cornerstone for climate justice and just resilience, but it often seems completely missing from the climate policy equation. In contrast to civil, political, and economic rights, cultural rights have been side-lined and neglected in dialogues about climate policy and human rights.
Cultural rights include the right to freedom for scientific research and creative activity, and the right to participate in cultural life. The foundational document of international human rights law is the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It asserts that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the ... Read more ...
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World Leaders Must Protect UN Climate Talks from Fossil Fuel Industry Interference - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 20) |
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Nov 20 · The 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) is set to begin in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, next week. One of the most crucial indicators of success will be whether the nations of the world reach agreement on a fast and fair phaseout of fossil fuels.
Progress on this front depends on protecting the negotiations - and national and subnational policies based on them - from fossil fuel industry interference. This will not be easy. Fossil fuel interests have had a heavy hand in international climate negotiations since they began more than three decades ago. A growing body of evidence amassed by academic ... Read more ...
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COP28 Global Methane Pledge Efforts Still Not Enough - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 20) |
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Nov 20 · On the busy agenda for the COP28 United Nations climate negotiations this year are continuing efforts to implement the Global Methane Pledge, which was agreed to two years ago at COP26. The pledge is a voluntary agreement to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030; however, methane levels keep going up and we are woefully off track for meeting this goal.
Last year I wrote how current efforts were insufficient and still ignored the largest anthropogenic methane source - agriculture - and unfortunately, this remains true today. Plans countries have submitted under the Paris Agreement would lead to an increase in overall emissions by 2030 and that ... Read more ...
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Science’s Role in Addressing Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 16) |
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Nov 16 · The phrase “Loss and Damage“ has been bandied about in international climate negotiations since 1991 when Vanuatu, a small island nation in the South Pacific, called for developed countries to assist in shouldering the financial burden arising from climate change impacts. Today, more than 30 years later, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is still grappling with the question of who should fund a Loss and Damage initiative, where it should reside, and how the money should be allocated. As the global community comes together to address questions about Loss and Damage head on, the vital role of science in Loss and Damage discussions is more apparent than ever, providing a ... Read more ...
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House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Climate Change Playbook: Deny the Science, Take the Funding - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 9) |
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Nov 9 · It took no time for Mike Johnson to establish a hefty carbon footprint as new Speaker of the House. In the first legislative act under his watch, his Republican majority last month passed an appropriations bill that seeks to gut many federal programs meant to fight climate change.
The House bill cuts between $5 billion and $6 billion from last year’s Inflation Reduction Act which passed both houses of Congress without a single Republican vote.
Johnson’s new bill ends rebates for electric appliances, home electrification projects, and training funds for project installation. It eliminates or slashes funding for clean energy and energy efficiency efforts throughout the ... Read more ...
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Climate Litigation and UN Climate Talks: An Important Symbiosis - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 6) |
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Nov 6 · Climate change, one of the defining challenges of our time, demands multifaceted approaches to drive action and accountability. Two central players in this arena are climate litigators and United Nations (UN) climate negotiators. While they may seem like separate pieces of the climate puzzle, they interact in a symbiotic and mutually reinforcing manner in the collective effort to combat global warming. Their relationship has the potential to be further strengthened through ongoing advisory opinion processes, most notably a current climate advisory request before the International Court of Justice.
As I prepare to attend the UN’s 28th annual Conference of the Parties (COP28), ... Read more ...
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The Anthropocene as a Nuclear Age - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Nov 1) |
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Nov 1 · Humanity’s relationship to time is notoriously myopic. We tend to perceive things as permanent and immutable only because their rate of change is imperceptible on the timescales of our own experience. When it comes to geologic time, the disconnect between our lived experience and the magnitude of Earth history is almost irreconcilable. How we mark time, therefore, depends a lot on perspective.
I’ve spent much of my research career steeped in Earth science and planetary evolution, including teaching undergraduate geology. Geologists are trained to appreciate the inconceivably large span of geologic time (or 'Deep Time’) as well as the relative brevity of human presence on the ... Read more ...
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California Can Do It - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Oct 10, 2023) |
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Oct 10, 2023 · I’m not a native Californian but an adopted one. I love the way the state isn’t afraid to lead in times of great change.
I was reminded of this recently when visiting the Rosie the Riveter museum, not far from my home in the Bay Area. Photos and audio recordings from the 1940s recreate a time of enormous upheaval. Amid fascist forces marching across Europe, democracy and a lot of lives were on the line. Here in Richmond, California, shipyards were bursting with thousands of men and women (for the first time allowed into the workforce en masse). Together, their tireless work helped end World War II and deliver victory to the Allied forces. But those workers, all the Rosies ... Read more ...
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Decolonization Is Critical for Puerto Rico to Achieve Representation in Climate Negotiations - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Oct 04, 2023) |
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Oct 04, 2023 · A few days ago, Puerto Rico commemorated 155 years of the Grito de Lares, the uprising of 1868 by Puerto Ricans in defense of their right to self-determination and decolonization.
On September 23 of that year, rebels assembled in the mountain town of Lares to declare via a grito (literally, “shout”) their opposition to nearly 400 years of the Spanish colonial regime. Though the insurrection was rapidly quashed by Spanish forces, the Grito de Lares was the first organized uprising against Spain’s absolute rule in Puerto Rico and it represents the birth of the Puerto Rican decolonization and self-determination movement that echoes through to this day.
In 1898, the ... Read more ...
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How Post-War Justice Strategies Can Be Applied to the Climate Crisis - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Sep 26, 2023) |
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Sep 26, 2023 · The climate crisis is one of humanity’s most complex conflicts yet. The dangerous impacts of a warming, fossil-fuel dependent world span from wildfires capable of destroying entire towns to cancer-causing air pollution that afflicts the next generation. Countries in the Global South that are barely emitting any heat-trapping emissions have felt the impacts of this struggle acutely, despite countries like the United States and China accounting for nearly 40% of cumulative global carbon pollution.
The obstruction of climate action by high-emitting countries over the past several decades - even after the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) was ... Read more ...
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No Time for Delay: Congress Must Keep Disaster Funding Flowing - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Sep 26, 2023) |
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Sep 26, 2023 · 2023 has already been a year of record-breaking climate change-related impacts: endless days of extreme heat, nightmare wildfires, extensive flooding, and storms like Hurricane Idalia that many communities are struggling to recover from. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released its updated summary of extreme weather and climate change-related disasters. From January to August of this year, NOAA reports that the country experienced 23 disasters that each caused damages of at least $1 billion or more. These disasters had a total economic toll of $57.6 billion and contributed to 253 deaths. With two and half months left in the official Atlantic ... Read more ...
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The Human Right to a Stable Climate - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Sep 25, 2023) |
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Sep 25, 2023 · Scientists have unequivocally confirmed that human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, are driving unprecedented changes to the Earth’s climate, raising fundamental questions about our responsibility to safeguard the environment for future generations. Now, an ethical, moral and legal debate is emerging: do we have the right to a stable climate? The answer surely should be yes, we do.
Courts are hearing arguments on both sides. Last month, in a landmark decision, a Montana judge ruled that youth in the state do have the right to a stable climate. The highest court in Hawai’i ruled similarly in March, recognizing the human right to a stable environment. The ... Read more ...
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California Advances Corporate Climate Accountability Amid New Evidence of ExxonMobil’s Deception - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Sep 21, 2023) |
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Sep 21, 2023 · There have been several dramatic advances in climate corporate accountability this month. Tens of thousands of people marched in New York City and around the world, California filed a groundbreaking lawsuit and passed new corporate climate disclosure rules, and the Wall Street Journal published new revelations about ExxonMobil’s climate disinformation efforts.
Here are the key things you need to know about California’s advances and what’s new in the internal ExxonMobil documents.
California’s climate accountability lawsuit is groundbreaking in several ways:
The largest state by population, California has joined more than 40 cities, counties, and states across the ... Read more ...
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World Heritage Committee Ignores UNESCO Recommendation to List Venice as Endangered - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Sep 14, 2023) |
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Sep 14, 2023 · The World Heritage Committee has voted not to put Venice, Italy, on UNESCO’s list of endangered places. The decision flies in the face of the advice of the secretariat of the World Heritage Convention which had recommended that because of slow progress in addressing the dual threats of climate change and over-tourism, Venice should be placed on its “in danger” list. It was a step too far for the Committee which has never yet put a World Heritage site threatened by climate change on the endangered list. A discussion about whether to list Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as “in danger” will be on the agenda for the 2024 meeting of the ... Read more ...
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A Climate Crossroads for the World Heritage Convention - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Sep 13, 2023) |
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Sep 13, 2023 · How will the nations that have ratified UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention respond to the threat climate change represents to iconic natural and historic sites across the globe? This is one of the biggest questions facing the countries represented at the 45th World Heritage Committee meeting in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. Will they for example, agree to place the city of Venice on the list of World Heritage sites “in danger”? Venice is increasingly vulnerable to severe flooding and water damage, and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre has recommended that the struggling city be added to the list of places in danger because of both climate change and over-tourism. If the Committee agrees, then ... Read more ...
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New Maps Show Inequitable Geography of Danger Season - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Sep 11, 2023) |
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Sep 11, 2023 · The 2023 Danger Season has been unleashed like never before.
In June and July, heat waves that brought temperatures over 113°F baked the Southwest and the Southeast. By the end of July, Phoenix, AZ, had experienced 31 days in a row with at least 110°F. During most of June, an unprecedented heat wave in Puerto Rico brought heat index temperatures up to 125°F.
In early August, devastating fires in Maui spread quickly due to dry conditions and winds from a distant hurricane. Nearly 40,000 wildfires across the United States burned almost 2 million acres by the end of August.
Hilary was the first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years and prompted flooding alerts ... Read more ...
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Boston-Area Communities Work Together to Beat the Heat - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Aug 30, 2023) |
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Aug 30, 2023 · We are halfway through this year’s Danger Season - the period between May and October when climate change makes extreme weather events more likely - and the unprecedented ferocity and scale of extreme weather have been making headlines and impacting our lives. In the Northeast, we have seen the haze and breathed air heavy with the smoke from Canadian wildfires. We have witnessed destruction by rising floodwaters from heavy rains. It may be more challenging, however, to perceive what is often called an “invisible hazard” or the “silent killer” as the deadliest weather event: extreme heat.
What images come to mind with the questions: how do you see heat? How does heat affect ... Read more ...
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What Should the Next Phase of Federal Climate Legislation Include? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming (Aug 23, 2023) |
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Aug 23, 2023 · A reporter recently asked me what the next big piece of climate legislation would ideally include. Great question, right? With the help of my colleagues across the Climate & Energy and Clean Transportation programs at UCS, I’ve started a wish list!
Yes, over the past year, Congress has made unprecedented investments in our climate future. The largest of these investments has been the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for clean energy, though the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) also includes funding for building climate resilience. Those investments were hard won and are already starting to benefit the US economy and ... Read more ...
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